Passage to Niue
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Crossing to Niue via Beveridge Reef On August 14, 2002 we left Rarotonga, Cook Islands and headed for Niue. Along the way we stopped at Beveridge Reef, a small reef 4 days sail from Rarotonga. After a rest stop in the middle of the ocean we sailed overnight to Niue. 8/14, Leaving Rarotonga, Day 121 10.540 S, 160 16.310 W, 4:53 UTC, passage from Rarotonga
to Niue. Hi there. We left Rarotonga at about 1:30pm local time.
With help from Austin and Kathleen on Pegasus and the fellow on L'eau Life we
pulled up anchor, stored our stern lines and motored out of Avatiu Harbor. We
are now about 27 miles out on a course of 250 M. We are sailing with the
staysail and yankee only. Winds are 10-15 clocking from ESE to SE and back.
Our speed over the ground is 5-6 knots. Before we left Rich cleaned the speed
log. It worked for the first 10 miles and then stopped. Must have picked
something up on it. The seas are 4-6 feet from the ESE so we roll a bit. Mandu is sleeping in his bed on the floor of the cockpit,
giving us grimaces every so often. Where is the enthusiasm?
Mandu in his other passage spot Sarah is on watch now from 6-9pm. She helped me make pasta
for dinner tonight. Jesse is trying to get some shuteye on the port settee.
Rich is lying down on the port cushion in the cockpit, in complete foul
weather gear. I will finish sending this out and then I will sit in the
cockpit and keep Sarah company. Earlier this afternoon Jesse and Rich saw some pilot
whales. Jesse said he saw a large white thing go up and then go below the
surface. Was it the white whale? Where is Capt. Ahab now? til next report... Rich, Elaine, Jesse, Sarah and Katmandu 555 miles to the south end of Niue 8/15, Day 2
20 33.917S, 161 54.332W, 4:59 utc, passage from Rarotonga
to Niue. Day 2. Today was fairly uneventful. We gybed twice, at 3am
and 4pm. Our distance to the mark is 462 miles. This would say that we
traveled only 100 miles since our report last night. This is straight line.
We actually traveled about 130 miles since we are gybing back and forth. The winds have clocked around from the ENE to the ESE and
SE. For a while they were 8-11 knots, now they are 11-17 knots. The seas are
from the E, 4-6 feet. For most of the day the skies were clear, now it is 70%
overcast with darker clouds to the NE of us. It looks clearer ahead of us. We
are averaging between 4.5 to 6.5 knots of boat speed (SOG).
Jesse in foulies Jesse sits in his foulies in the back of the cockpit. Rich
is horizontal most of the time. Sitting up occasionally to look around. Sarah
sits under the dodger reading a new book I got her from the same author as
The Mists of Avalon. I read my book and fixed meals.
Rich horizontal Late this afternoon we saw whales spouting on the horizon
behind us. Could be humpbacks from the Antarctic. They come north to the Cook
Islands to breed before heading south again. til next report... Rich, Elaine, Jesse, Sarah and Katmandu 459 miles to the south end of Niue 8/16, Day 320 30.460 S, 163 58.480 W, 5:31 utc, passage from Rarotonga
to Niue. Day 3. Another day on the ocean. The winds are clocking
around to the NE, NNE, N, and now the NNW, between 10-17 knots. The swells
are slowly clocking around also. We would alternate reefing the yankee and
then bring it out again as the winds are now before us. We finally brought in
the yankee and now we are motoring into the wind. We want to stop at a place
called Beveridge Reef and we have to time our arrival so that we get there at
daylight.
Sarah on watch Beveridge Reef is in the middle of the ocean about 129
miles from Niue. It is a reef with the wreck of a 90 feet trawler on one side
lying in about 1 feet of water. On the opposite side is the entry to the
reef. It has a large lagoon inside where the snorkeling is supposed to be
great since there is very little human contact with the exception of a few
yachties who stop. We will try to stop there, anchor inside the reef, do some
snorkeling and spend the night. It is like a rest stop on the highway only
there is no one there to serve coffee to sleepy sailors. It was a pretty easy day. Do watch, read, sleep, and eat.
Not always in that order. We looked for a green flash, as there were no
clouds on the horizon but no luck. til next report... Rich, Elaine, Jesse, Sarah and Katmandu 344 miles to the south end of Niue 8/17, Day 420 05.383 S, 166 36.047 W, 09:57 UTC, passage from
Rarotonga to Niue. Day 4. Early this morning we passed through a squall. Lots
of rain. Sarah and I tacked the staysail since the wind had clocked to WSW.
As the day progressed the winds decreased to 6 knots on the nose and the
swells were 3-4 feet. We increased the rpm in the afternoon so that we could
make the time window for the reef. We lost time pounding into the wind and
swell. There was high overcast for most of the day. I made beef stroganoff for dinner. It was a big hit. Mandu
got to like the bowl. He was a very happy camper, also a member of the clean
plate club. We talked to the folks back in Rarotonga on the radio this
morning. Avatiu harbor is pretty crowded with 11 boats at anchor in addition
to the boats on the quay. They had a rough night last night with the
northerly winds and swell coming right into the harbor. Boats were rocking a
lot but luckily no damage. They were able to hoist the engine out of Cardinal
Sin on Thursday morning. Now it is in the shop, dismantled, waiting for the
parts from Canada. Hope they arrive soon. Hope to reach Beveridge Reef by 11 am on Sunday. til next report... Rich, Elaine, Jesse, Sarah and Katmandu 194 miles to the south end of Niue 8/18, Beveridge Reef20 00.987S, 167 45.223W, 3:53 utc, at anchor in Beveridge
Reef There are times during long passages when you wish you
could just pull over to the side and take a break like you would if you were
driving on the highway. Well, Beveridge Reef is like a rest stop on the way
to Niue.
Looking toward wreck and ocean beyond We first heard about Beveridge Reef from the May 2002 issue
of Cruising World we received in the mail package to Makemo. It sounded like
a great place to visit. When we checked into Rarotonga, Captain Don Silk, the
harbormaster, gave us a sheet with a hand drawn chart of the reef with GPS
coordinates for the entrance. We decided that if it were convenient to stop
on our way to Niue we would do it. We are glad we did. We pulled into the reef at 12:15pm
through the pass that is about 150 yards wide on the western side of the
reef. A complementary current helped us through. Once inside we headed
towards the wreck of a trawler and dropped anchor in 9 meters of clear blue
water. You can see the anchor, the chain and details of the bottom. It is
much clearer than Moorea. The reef is an atoll about 5 miles long and 3 miles
wide on the inside and no dry land. It is like a hole in the ocean. You can look
360 degrees and see the ocean waves hitting the reef. We joined Bucephalus
(Aussies), Il Granchio (Canadians from Victoria) and a ketch at anchor.
Bucephalus and Il Granchio we had met in Rarotonga. After some much needed showers we are relaxing and taking a
break from passage making. Tonight is dinner and a movie night. Tomorrow we
will do a little snorkeling. The folks from Il Granchio saw some humpback
whales in the reef this morning, swimming by their anchor chain. The crew of
Bucephalus was out swimming when the whales joined them. How cool! Relaxing in the Reef in the middle of nowhere. Rich, Elaine, Jesse, Sarah and Katmandu Beveridge Reef, a rest stop on the way to Niue 8/22, Day 5 to Niue 19 42.436S, 168 38.789W, 5:33 UTC, passage from Beveridge
Reef to Niue Like the song Willie Nelson sings,'On the road again'. This morning we maneuvered to untangle the anchor rode from
the coral heads, pulled up anchor and headed out the pass from Beveridge
Reef. The water was brilliant shade of blue and bright blue green. We enjoyed
our stay there. Unfortunately the weather was cold and rainy so we did not
get a chance to go snorkeling. Sarah and Jesse made up for it by baking fresh
rolls, brownies and chocolate cake. It was nice to rest and get a few nights
of sleep. Now we are on a broad reach to Niue. The skies have been
clear today and the full moon has just risen behind us and the sky is rosy.
The winds are SE 16-22 knots swells are SSE 4-8 feet. Windarra is moving
along between 5.8 and 7.2 knots under staysail and yankee. A great sail. We hope to get into Niue in the morning and get a mooring
buoy. Then we will do the clearing in thing and check out Aloofi, the village
at the harbor. another adventure awaits..... Rich, Elaine, Jesse, Sarah and Katmandu 77 miles to the south end of Niue 8/23, Niue 19 03.204S 169 55.378W, Alofi Bay, Niue Fakaalofa Atu (Welcome in Niuean) This morning we came around the south end of Niue, watching
the waves hit the small fringe reef and then shoot over 60 feet in the air up
the cliff side. Quite a spectacular sight. We are on a mooring buoy, one of
12, in Alofi Bay on the west coast of the island. The town of Alofi is the
largest town on Niue, an island whose population is dwindling to 1000 folks
or less who still live on the island. 2,000 Niueans live in New Zealand. Niue is the largest upraised coral atoll, 259 square
kilometers. "It is one of the world's smallest self-governing states, in
association with New Zealand." There are no streams or creeks on the
island so the water surrounding it is extremely clear. We are in 17.8 meters
of water and we can see the bottom!
Coastline of Niue We called the Niue Yacht Club on VHF channel 16 to find out
about the mooring buoys. We also called Niue Radio, VHF channel 16 to arrange
an appointment with the fellow from customs. There is a wharf but since it is so exposed to the west you
cannot tie up to it. You go over in your dingy, attach the hook from the
crane to the sling on the dingy, go up the stairs of the wharf and then raise
your dingy onto the wharf and move it over to the side so that the crane is
available for the next user. Jesse ferried Rich and I over to the wharf to meet with the
fellow from customs and quarantine. Jesse and Sarah remained on the boat. The
quarantine fellow asked a few questions about the cat and produce on board,
Rich filled out some paperwork and that was that. The customs guy gave us a
ride up to his office. Here we filled out some paperwork about the boat. Then
we walked to the police station down the street, which handles the
immigration work. We filled out entry cards and she stamped our passports.
When we check out we will have to visit customs and immigration again. Rich and I having completed check in did a little
exploring. We went to the Internet Society office. They have four computers
available and the best part, it’s free! Someone formed a not-for-profit
company that sells domain names for the country of Niue, .nu. The money from
this supports the Internet Society so that everyone on Niue has free access
to the internet. Cool! Meanwhile, Jesse and Sarah were on the boat eating popcorn
and reading comic books. They got a call on the VHF radio; Windarra had come
loose of the mooring buoy and was drifting out to sea. They rushed on deck,
got the engine going and maneuvered the boat back to the buoy and with some
help, tied to the buoy again. Disaster was averted and they handled the
situation without any problem. Meanwhile their parents are on shore
completely oblivious to the situation, checking out the local internet and
grocery store (important items about any port of call).
Windarra in Alofi Bay, Tonga is 250 miles
beyond Rich and I returned to Windarra and heard about the
excitement. We are proud of how they handled themselves, the situation and
the boat. Niue is already an adventure and we just got here. 8/24, Niue 19 03.204S 169 55.378W, Alofi Bay, Niue Fakaalofa Atu (Welcome in Niuean) Last night we provided guidance via VHF to North Road as
they entered the bay and grabbed a mooring buoy. This morning they provided
the same assistance to Lil' Gem. We went on shore this morning and made reservations to go
to the BBQ at the Matavai Resort this evening with the folks of North Road
and Lil' Gem. It should be fun. As we were on shore we learned a little bit more about
Niue. The wharf was build by the US Navy SeaBees about 3.5 years
ago. 6 weeks after the completion of the construction a storm came through
and took out a third of the wharf! 4 months ago the SeaBees returned for a
6-month tour of duty to remove the sunken part of the wharf and replace it.
We were quite surprised to see these buff men and women of the US Navy
working here on the wharf, sometimes resting on REI folding camp chairs in
the sun with high tech diving gear and blasting materials around!
Alofi Wharf with SeaBees at work We saw articles in the paper in Rarotonga that the church
of Rev. Sun Yun-Moon (Moonies) are trying to buy property in Niue to build a
'religious compound' and want to take over one of the hotels in the area. The
locals are quite upset about it. The local government, which is heavily subsidized by New
Zealand, is bankrupt, and it is only August. No sure how they will handle the
situation since at least half of the citizens are government employees. The locals handle these things with stride. The one
situation that really chaps the locals is the fact that for the second time
in a row the government forgot to order beer for the next supply ship. The
island is running out of beer. The last time this happened the locals
switched to hard liquor and there were fights in the streets and chaos.
Bankruptcy is nothing compared to no beer! One local, a kiwi, indicated that
Steinlager was not beer. I didn't ask what he thought it was. Niue radio operates on VHF channel 16. We contacted them
yesterday to set up an appointment with Customs. They do more than just
monitor the VHF communication. This morning a fisherman called and asked if
Niue radio would call his family on the phone and tell them to meet him at
the wharf to help him take the boat home on the trailer. No problem, what is
the phone number? Try getting that sort of service in the US! Night-night from Niue 8/25, Niue 19 03.204S 169 55.378W, Alofi Bay, Niue Fakaalofa Atu (Welcome in Niuean) Saturday night, 8/24, we went to dinner at the Matavai
Resort with some of the other cruisers. It was a BBQ buffet and yummy. We met
Nacho (short for Ignatius) and Isabella, an Italian couple from Mallorca, on
a Bavaria named Enterprise. He is a Star Trek fan, hence the name. They are a
lot of fun and we hope to stay in touch with them. They have to be back in
Mallorca in a year and a half so they are going around very quickly. We also
met a Finnish couple on a boat called Kristiina. They have visited Iceland,
Newfoundland, gone down the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Mississippi.
View of swimming pool and beach at Matavai
Resort Sunday is a day of rest in Niue. We can hear the church
bells tolling during the day. The sea is calm and the wind is low. We are
reading and doing a few little chores. In the evening we go to dinner at Russell and Tanya's
house. We had met Russell on Saturday on the lookout above the anchorage and
he invited us to dinner. He is here on a contract similar to the Peace Corps,
called Australia Aid, to help the locals with their power generation. He and
his wife are from the Brisbane area. They have 3 boys, Darcy, 6, Quinn, 4 and
Kelly, 9 months. It was fun to visit with them and learn more about Niue. He
has some friends that he went to school with who are working for Boeing now
and he was surprised when we said that we had worked there too. According to Russell the Niueans are of Samoan and Tongan
descent. The Samoan Niueans live on the north side of the island and the
Tongan Niueans live on the south side. There is quite a rivalry between the
two and when villages in the south play sports, like cricket with villages in
the north it is not surprising that fights break out. The islanders from
Samoa used to raid Niue for slaves. The islanders from Tonga would raid Niue
also but they would take the prisoners back to Tonga, pen them up and use
them for food! All Niueans hate the Tongans! I can understand why. No appetite in Niue 8/27, Niue 19 03.204S 169 55.378W, Alofi Bay, Niue Fakaalofa Atu (Welcome in Niuean) On Monday we went to the police station to get Niuean
drivers licenses so that we could rent a car. They cost $2 NZ! When we rented
our car we also joined the Niue Yacht Club. Mary, who runs Alofi Rentals,
helps operate the Niue Yacht Club. We joined, bought t-shirts and a burgee!
They even have a newsletter via email. How kewl! We piled into the car and drove to Togo at the south end of
the island. It is a cavern formed by the coral and when the island was pushed
up out of the sea the coral held its shape. You hike down into the cavern and
at the bottom there is golden colored sand and coconut trees. A small oasis.
Very amazing sight.
Hiking down trail to cavern
Climbing down the ladder
Waves breaking on rocks below After lunch at the Matavai Resort we drove to the north end
of the island to Limu. This is a snorkeling spot that we heard about from Rob
and Natalie on Wilhelm. You hike down the cliff to a series of pools. We
paddled around and watched the fish and the sea snakes! We gave the snakes a
wide berth.
Crystal clear water for snorkeling Today we went for a double dive. The first dive was near a
cave at the south end of the island. When you are underwater you can see
forever! The sun was shining so there was plenty of light. You had to be
careful and watch your depth gauge. It was too easy to get too deep. You
think you are at 40 feet but it is really 90 feet since it is so clear and
you have a lot of light. Our second dive was near Limu. Here we saw a lot more fish
and varieties of coral. A school of barracuda swam around us for a while.
They would change direction in formation. After a while they lost interest in
us and swam away. We could hear whales singing as we were underwater but we
did not see them. There were also sea snakes, really the Niue krait. Jesse had
one follow him for a while. It was a lot of fun. It made all of the other
places we have been pale in comparison, not only the clarity but also the
variety of coral, fish and colors of both. -- Wait a minute -- I'm back. There was a humpback whale mother with its two
calves swimming in the anchorage! We can see the blow and all three whales
breeching. How very exciting! You would not believe the chatter on the radio
about it. We could here someone screaming across the anchorage they were so
excited. The wind and the seas are from the northwest. Last night
the seas were counter to the winds and the boat was rocking and rolling. Now
it is better but still a lot of movement. Not sure when we will leave for
Tonga.... Rocking and rolling at Niue 8/29, Niue 19 03.204S 169 55.378W, Alofi Bay, Niue Fakaalofa Atu (Welcome in Niuean) On Tuesday night, we heard that Mobisle's dinghy had gone
on walkabout. The seas and winds were out of the N and NW respectively and it
was very rocky in the anchorage. There were search lights out but no one
could see it. We figured it went towards shore and hung up on the reef. It
was a better plan to wait until daylight to try and find it. Veritas' dingy
decided to depart the mother ship also. It the morning they were found safe and sound on the reef
on the north side of the wharf and with the aid of Niue Dive and the SeaBEES
both dinghies were recovered. On Wednesday we cleared out of Immigration and Customs.
Rich returned the rental car to Alofi rentals and picked up our membership
card to NYC (Niue Yacht Club of course). After quick provisioning and t-shirt
buying we went back to Windarra. This was a very wet excursion since the
waves coming along the wharf were pretty rough. The rest of the afternoon we
spent on board, adding a second mooring line when we had chaffing on the
first one. We watched others try to get on their dinghies and get back to
their boats. A few people included swimming with this exercise. We watched The Patriot and held onto our drinks as we had
dinner. The boat was rocking and rolling a lot and my coke tipped over at one
point. At the end of the movie Rich went out to check on the mooring lines
and the dingy. Suddenly there was a call for all hands on deck. Our dingy
was a drift! The painter was still attached to Windarra but the shackle that
connected the painter to the pad eye on the dingy had come unscrewed and was
no longer on the dingy. We got out the searchlight. A few boat lengths away
we could see the dingy riding the waves to shore. So close and yet so far. We
haled North Road, could they come over with their dingy and search light to
help us grab ours? By the time Bob arrived we had watched the dingy ride a
crest of a wave onto the reef and it disappeared from sight. To go closer to
the reef in the dark was too dangerous. We would have to wait until morning. During the night the waves continued to come from the NNW
but the winds switched to the west. The boat rocked and rolled during the
night, without the familiar sound of the dinghy occasionally bumping against
the hull. In the morning we got up early to look for the dingy. We
scanned the shore but to no avail. Tony from Veritas and Dennis from Ali Kai
came over in their dingy. They picked up Rich and started to search. On the
radio I heard that someone had found a dingy. I called Niue Radio and they
told me to contact Southern Express, the container ship approaching the
harbor from the west on the horizon. They had found a dingy drifting out
about 6 miles from shore, grabbed it and was towing it in. Our dingy had been
found, trying to beat us to Tonga! We figure that during the night when the
winds changed and it was high tide the dingy made its way to the open ocean. When the Southern Express came closer in to shore, Tony
drove Rich out to grab the dingy. It sure looked small riding along side the
container ship. With two pulls on the outboard motor starter it roared to
life and after letting lose the line, Rich motored back to Windarra. Our
dingy had returned!
The Southern Express with dingy retrieval
services The Southern Express dropped anchor and swung around for a
stern tie to the wharf. Lighters came into action, moving shipping containers
from the ship to the wharf to be hoisted up by a crane. Hopefully there was
beer for the island! In between this activity Rich and Jesse pulled along
side the ship to get the pieces of the dingy that they had found - one oar,
the fuel line and a shock cord. The other oar, the seat, the auxiliary fuel
tank (that we had bought in Raiatea) and the spare dingy key were gone. They
refused our token of thanks. It is not good to be dingy-less in Niue or anywhere else
for that matter. A happy end to the story. Thank you to Bob on North Road, Dennis on Ali Kai, Tony on Veritas
and the seaman on Southern Express for all of your help! Now it is time to get ready to leave this paradise and
head for Tonga. We will not forget the wonderful, friendly people we met on
Niue. It is a beautiful place and very special. 9/6, Local Legends When we in town in Neiafu, we ran into some cruisers that had been in Niue with us. They had been invited to play golf and have dinner with Eddie, a friend of Russell’s, while they were there. Eddie does accounting work for the government on the island in an arrangement similar to Russell. Some stories heard that night while drinking went like this: Some years ago there was a New Zealand High Commissioner that was not very popular with the local Niueans. I don’t know the details but suffice it to say that the feelings were bad and were getting worse. One night, 50 Niueans, armed with machetes, went to visit the High Commissioner. The result was the High Commissioner was cut into little bits, like Cole slaw! The New Zealand government was shocked. They appointed a new commissioner. Can you imagine how the candidates must have felt when they asked about who was in the position before? Is he going to remain on Niue? Yes. Will I be able to meet with the previous High Commissioner? No. But he is still on Niue? Yes. Where in Niue? All over Niue. He travels a lot? No. Is he retiring? You might say that. Anyway, a new High Commissioner was appointed. One of his first acts was to imprison the 50 people responsible for the death of his predecessor. Now the prison on Niue is just a house on the top of the plateau not to far from the airport. There are no fences or walls, gates or guards. Sort of an honor system exists. Now it seemed that the new High Commissioner liked to play golf and there was no course on Niue. To keep the new prisoners busy and for their punishment, they were to build him a golf course. Hence, Niue now has a golf course. Some years later a Niuean living in New Zealand was convicted of some crime and deported back to Niue to serve his time. He did not get along with the warden of the prison very well. There were many occasions of shouting and fisticuffs between the two. One day the fighting between them escaladed and the warden feared for his life. He pulled out a gun and fired at the prisoner but missed. This made the prisoner very mad and he began chasing the warden. The remaining prisoners feared for their own safety and locked themselves in their rooms. Meanwhile the prisoner is chasing the warden around the golf course and the prison grounds. The warden finally dives into his car, grabs another gun he has hidden there and shoots the prisoner dead. Now normally this would be considered a case of self-defense. For some reason, we don’t know the details; the warden is convicted of murder and sent to the same prison where he has been serving as warden. The problem is now the dead prisoner’s family wants to kill the warden. The Niuean government has to build a true cell at the prison to protect the warden. So on Niue there are two prisoners in the prison, and the warden is in a cell. Go figure. |
